Reasons why PC Gaming isn’t dead in 2011 – Part 1.

So here we are in 2011 – another sparkly New Year and PC gaming is still chugging along in the wake of those shiny consoles with their spanking new motion controllers and glistening awards. But in this article and my others beyond it, I’m going to be highlighting reasons why PC gaming’s time is far from over, and how this year is going to see it thrash console gaming into submission. To start with lets talk about those games that carried PC Gaming over into 2011:

Starcraft 2

Starcraft 2 – the only game, that to me, really dragged PC gaming back from the brink in 2010 and into a bold new competitive gaming spotlight. Unlike in Korea, Starcraft 2 isn’t anything close to a national sport in the UK, so my dealings of the game used to be non-existent, what with me being an FPS junky and all… I was too busy enjoying the plethora of good competitive games like Unreal Tournament, CounterStrike and Quake 3. None of this ‘thinking’ bollocks.

Then I discovered it. Starcraft 2 was my first experience of a clean, polished and cinematically stunning RTS game. I’ve dabbled in Command and Conquer before. But this was something different. It was special. It felt like a distant relative that I’d been brought up hearing great tales of, coming home to roost and living up to the hype. It was slick, suave and had a deep history that meant those that knew about the Starcraft universe could teach you about how to properly enjoy it. What a fascinating community I had stumbled across!

This game is continually growing and evolving as new patches fix and change the way the game is played. It’s also getting modded to hell, and some of the stuff that I see are nothing short of separate games in their own right.

Starcraft 2 was an explosive way to announce the re-emergence of wider PC gaming and how it could still suck every drop of your life from your body.

Minecraft

Yes I know, everyone is bleating on about Minecraft these days. I was a sceptic at first – dead against this new phenomenon. But since I’ve played it, I’ve thought ‘screw it’. Minecraft is a social sensation! Videos of the game with millions of hits – what with its crude pixelated graphics – is not something I saw coming. It was a refreshing change from some kid commentating on some awful console footage of Call of Duty.

Playing this game brought back my love for all things menial and pointless. I got all nostalgic of those days I used to spend hours mining away on runescape. I went into Minecraft blind, I just bought it on a whim. I saw it everywhere and decided to jump on the band wagon. The first 20 minutes was a bit of a blur. I was like a fish out of water, dropped in this world created just for me. I was scurrying about smashing everything I could with my fists. It was like some euphoric roid rage. Obliterating everything I could with my pink stumps. Little did I know I was up against the clock – a clock that was as unforgiving as I was when let loose in the airport terminal in Modern Warfare 2. It wasn’t long before a creeper blew me up.

After a few sleepless nights, hiding in a mud hole peering out of a single block waiting for sunlight, I had finally gotten used to this curfew set by the damned. Minecraft is now how I wind down the end of my weekdays. Like an old episode of the A-team, I disappear into a cave and emerge covered in armour, wielding my bow and arrow. I gun down everything in my path like some oppressed traveller wanting to squat in peace.

Sometimes I don’t even play the game. I just watch people’s adventures on the internet, such as these from the lovely fellows over at Yogcast

or the infuriatingly popular SeaNanners. Here is a man that could play minesweeper and talk about it for hours, and I would still watch.

Next time, I will discuss how the goliaths that are steam are thwarting pirates, and how they and other developers are pushing the boundaries of gaming.

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